Success at the 2010-2011 Vis Moot
Luke Driscoll, Breigh Smith, Alexandra Davis and Andrea De Biase
After six months of intensive preparations, the Deakin University School of Law has recently attended the oral rounds of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, once again with great success. The Vis Moot is the world’s most prestigious private international law mooting competition and focuses on the law relating to the international sale of goods and international arbitration. It is held in Hong Kong (East) and Vienna each year. Deakin is one of the few Law Schools from around the world that has participated in the competition every year since its inception and it has a strong track record in the competition.
The Vis Moot is an international mooting competition that simulates private dispute resolution through international commercial arbitration. This year’s Vis Moot problem relates to the procedure for appointing arbitrators in international commercial arbitration, the confidentiality of international arbitration proceedings, breaches of international sales contracts, and the degree of examination required of goods sold cross-border.
The School of Law's team was represented at the oral rounds by coach Ben Hayward, and four students - Andrea De Biase and Alexandra Davis (giving legal submissions in Hong Kong), and Breigh Smith and Luke Driscoll (giving legal submissions in Vienna).
Deakin's achievements
At the Vis (East) Moot in Hong Kong in April, 2011, Deakin's 2010-2011 Vis Moot team progressed through to the Final Round 16 from a total pool of 87 teams. Deakin also received three awards:
- Andrea De Biase received an honourable mention for her performance in the oral rounds
- Deakin's Memorandum for the Claimant received an honourable mention in the assessment of the written Claimant documents.
- Deakin's Memorandum for the Respondent received the first runner up award for the assessment of the written Respondent documents.
Ben Hayward, Vis Moot coach said:
"While I would have been happy with any one of these outcomes, to receive four separate instances of recognition in the competition awards is an absolutely wonderful result and a real testament to the extremely hard work the Deakin team has put in over a five month period in their preparations for the Vis Moot (and also a reflection of the wonderful support provided this year, as every year, by our alumni base). I commend the entire team for their efforts!"
Congratulations to the 2010-2011 Vis Moot team:
- Andrew Cusumano
- Alexandra Davis
- Andrea De Biase
- Luke Driscoll
- Janeni Jeremiah
- Patrick Johnston
- Karina Milshtein
- Lillian Pham
- Breigh Smith
- Alix Spencer
- Trinh Thai
What the students say
Trinh Thai, 2010-2011 Vis Moot Team:
The Vis Moot is a very prestigious international competition, and is also a very interesting and rewarding unit. It requires a high level of commitment but the knowledge that one can gain out of it can be boundless. The Vis Moot is a one of a kind unit, allowing the combination of theoretical work and practical training, the kind of experience that can't be achieved in other units.
Karina Milshtein, 2010-2011 Vis Moot Team:
The first few weeks of the VIS moot have as expected been a lot of hard work, however time flies fast when you are having fun, and we are having a lot of fun! To have the opportunity to work on a realistic legal problem has not only solidified my desire to become a lawyer but has also been a fantastic and surprisingly fun challenge.
Being able to develop research, drafting and oral advocacy skills with a great team of people, under Ben's guidance and with feedback from practicing lawyers, will not only look great on my resume but will also help me for the rest of my course and career. The chance to be considered to travel to Europe to mingle and network with other law students from all over the world and the top professionals in the field is quite attractive as well! I truly think we are very lucky to be provided this rare opportunity and it is one which I highly recommend to everyone that wants to pursue law and have a fun and rewarding summer.
